The Bargain Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

mind?”
    Now she laughed, but without humor. “Eligible bachelors are not thick on the ground in the country. Little Falls is not Almack’s, you know, and I am no longer a blushing debutante. No one here considers me an heiress, either, only an eccentric old maid, which is just as well, for I would not wish to be wed for my money. Besides, Father wants a title. Rich men with peerages seldom look to bankers’ daughters.”
    â€œBut your father is a knight now. And you are an attractive, intelligent woman. Surely in London—”
    â€œI am not in London. I meet my father and his family in the Lake Country for a summer holiday. Grandpapa and I travel to Bath in the winter.”
    â€œBath is better,” he said, relieved. “Lots of chaps go for the waters, some with their ailing relations, of course, but some of my officer friends stop in Bath to recover from various injuries. Or you might try convincing your family to go to Brighton for the summer. A younger crowd vacations there.”
    Penny had never thought past this day. “Perhaps,” she said.
    The viscount must have heard the doubt in her voice, for he smiled again and said, “You are free, little butterfly. Go spread your wings.”
    â€œAs you will? Blithely celebrate your release from bondage?”
    Now he did reach out to lift a bright curl. “Not so blithely. Perhaps I will feel a bit of regret.”
    The practiced rake might be saying that to make her feel better, Penny knew. It did.
    He did not release her curl, just stared into her eyes. “Perhaps I will feel more than a little regret that I never got to know you. But now we are both free to make our own choices, find our own paths. That is better, isn’t it?”
    â€œMuch better,” she answered too readily to be polite. His nearness was disturbing. “That is, we shall both benefit from the end of this unfortunate experience.”
    â€œShall we seal the end of our betrothal with a kiss?”
    A kiss? Gracious, he really was a rake. She was well out of the engagement. “I do not believe that is at all proper.”
    â€œNo, I suppose not.” He lightly touched his lips to hers anyway. “Farewell, my onetime bride-to-be. Be happy with your independence.”
    Penny would be happy if her legs could hold her up. She really ought to hit him again, she thought. Or kiss him again so she’d know how a practiced womanizer did it—for future reference, of course.
    He was smiling, the devil, knowing his effect. His confidence gave her the strength to smile back and say, “Yes, now I can go find my own Prince Charming to wed.”
    â€œLike hell you can,” came a loud voice from the open doorway. “You are marrying Lord Lustful, for good or for ill, and not a moment too soon, it seems. And you, sir, unhand my daughter. The wedding ain’t taken place yet.”
    â€œFather?”
    â€œSir Gaspar?”
    Penny’s father stepped into the library. “Who were you expecting, King George? Although I had to be as mad as the king to let Westfield ride ahead. But I suppose no harm’s done, an engaged couple and all.”
    â€œYou are mistaken, Sir Gaspar,” West told him. “We were saying good-bye. There will be no wedding.”
    â€œLike hell there won’t.” He looked around for a place to put his hat. “Havey-cavey household altogether. I always said so. I sent a note to expect me and what do I get? No butler, no footman, no chaperone for my daughter.”
    â€œI am too old for a chaperone, Father.”
    â€œNot by the looks of you.” He peered over his spectacles at her bare feet, unfastened gown, and disordered hair. “Your mother would be ashamed.”
    â€œIt is not what you think,” Penny insisted.
    â€œMiss Goldwaite is totally innocent,” West said.
    â€œWhen the gal’s cheeks are rubbed red from your beard and she looks like